Knitting Retreat

We are pleased to announce the opening of registration for our knitting retreat located at the Gateway Hotel in Ames, Iowa. The retreat will be held March 7-10. Once you arrive at the Gateway Hotel all of your needs will be taken care of and you can relax, take some knitting classes, and enjoy some great food and company. Our yarn shop will be bringing yarns, needles and other knitting supplies that you can purchase throughout the weekend.

Anne Podlesak

Anne Podlesak is an indie knitwear designer who lives in the mountains of northern New Mexico. She is the author of Free Spirit Knits, and has been a contributor to several Interweave magazines including Jane Austen Knits, knit.wear, Interweave Knits, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits. She also has an extensive collection of independently released patterns available on Ravelry. She loves incorporating lots of color into her designs, and looks for small details that will help create a unique and special hand-crafted knitwear item for all of her patterns.

Anne will be our featured speaker on Saturday after the banquet. She will be teaching a class on Friday on designing your own lace shawl for those arriving early. On Saturday and Sunday she will teach a class on designing your own top down yoke sweater and a shorter class on photographing your knits!

Varian Brandon | BRANDON KNITTING DESIGNS

Varian Brandon started knitting at eight. A trip to the islands of Great Britain rekindled a love of color and created an interest in the traditions of Fair Isle design and construction. She is currently designing stranded colorwork patterns for several yarn companies, international magazines, and her own website.

Currently living in Saluda, North Carolina, Varian has been teaching stranded colorwork and related knitting techniques at local yarn shops, regional fiber festivals, and for the past thirteen years at the Kanuga Knitting and Quilting Retreat in Hendersonville, North Carolina which she coordinates. Online, she can be found at www.brandonknittingdesigns.com or on Ravelry as varianbrandon.

She will be teaching a class on steeks on Friday for those arriving early and will be doing a class on converting knitting patterns from things knit flat to knitting in the round and on color theory on Saturday and a class on Sunday for Ribbings and edgings for colorwork projects.

Jeffrey Wall

Jeffrey and his husband Dennis, known as the Yarn Guys, are the distributors for Rauma Yarns from Norway and they own and operate a local yarn shop, Wall of Yarn. Jeffrey teaches knitting classes on various techniques throughout the United States. He will be teaching a class on finishing, one on double knitting and will be available throughout the weekend at designated times at the help desk to help fix mistakes or teach techniques that you need to get going on a project.

Laura Youngblut

Laura is a certified massage therapist, yoga instructor and knitter. She will be joining us and will be providing chair massages and yoga sessions throughout the retreat. Note: The massages are not included in the retreat cost and individuals interested in the massages can register in advance or during the retreat. The yoga sessions will be included in the cost of the retreat and all levels of experience are welcome.